Hoist attachment for tractors



Feb. 10, 1953 w, c TH JR 2,627,983

HOIST ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTORS Filed Sept. 11, 1948 IN VEN TOR. Mu. IAM C. LAT-uses, J:

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AT TOR/VI Y) Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES i l-tl'EE'ENT OFFICE 9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hoist attachment for tractors.

The present invention is an improvement upon the subject matter of my United States Patent No. 2,470,857, issued May 24, 1949, and entitled Hoisting Attachments for Motor Driven Vehicles, Such as Tractors.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a hoisting attachment having exceptional versatility when attached to a tractor, supporting its load directly from the ground, but operable for the transportation of such load under tractor guidance in any direction, and also operable to deliver or remove the load from a truck or the interior of a building without having the vehicle enter the building, and to raise and lower the load from the ground to heights much greater than those possible through the use of my previous apparatus, the load being moved over two distinctly different fulcrums and shifted from one to the other automatically according to requirements.

The manner in which these and other objects of the invention are achieved will appear more particularly from the following disclosure of my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view shown in plan of the device shown in Fig. 1.

The tractor 3 may be of any usual or desired type. It is supported by axles 4 from wheels 5. It has at 6 a power take-off from which a flexibly jointed and telescopically extensible coupling :v

1 leads to a winch drum 8 which is a part of my invention.

The particular tractor disclosed happens to have a bracket at 9 to which I pivotally connect by pintle bolts [B the base portions I I of a frame which comprises a tower for my hoist. The only other connections made to the tractor comprise anchor clamps 12 which are attached to any suitable part such as differential or axle hous ing l3.

As already indicated, the base portion ll of the hoist frame is ivotally connected with the tractor for oscillatory movement in a vertical plane only. In all other directions of movement, it is constrained to move with the tractor. outer end, the cross bar M of the frame base is supported by a pair of spaced caster wheels 15 which carry the load without interfering in any manner with freedom of tractor movement.

Erected on the base H are the upwardly con- At its verging bars [6 and I! which are joined on the top of the derrick-like frame by caps at [8 which are spanned by the pintle bolt l9 upon which an intermediate portion of a boom 20 is pivoted or cradled. The derrick tower may be reenforced in any desired manner by cross bracing at 2|, or otherwise.

The winch drum 8, already referred to, is preferably mounted in the derrick tower. Wound thereon is a cable 23 which leads around a sheave 24 in the inner end of the boom and thence around another sheave at 25 in the outer end of the boom. At its free end portion 26, the cable carries a stop collar 2'! incapable of passing about sheave 25, being too large to pass between the sheave and the stop bolt 28. Beyond this collar 21, the cable terminates in any suitable load sustaining fitting, uch as the hook 29 which may be engaged with a load diagrammatically illustrated at 30. 4

The derrick or tower is desirably inclined somewhat rearwardly above the caster wheels so that it will never tend to overturn toward the tractor. However, it is counter-balanced in any desired degree by tension springs 3| which are connected from the frame members I6 to the anchorage clamps l2 through the intervening turnbuckles 32 which provide for adjustment. Outward oscillation of the top of the tower in opposition to the tension of springs 3! is limited by the chains 33, likewise connected to the brackets l2 and extending thence to connections near the top of the tower.

The free pivotal movement of the cradled boom 20 upon its fulcrum pin i9 is limited at any desired point by connecting one or more chains 35 from the inner end of the boom to hooks at 36 upon the tower, with which selected links at the lower end of the chainsare selectively engaged. Ordinarily, the chain will be so adjusted that the free outer end of the boom cannot descend substantially below the horizontal position of the boom as illustrated in Fig. 1. In this position, the tractor may be backed up to guide the free end of the boom into the open door of a building or into the open rear end of a truck or other place heretofore accessible only with difiiculty. Even with the free end of the boom in any such relatively inaccessible place, it is a simple matter to hoist a weight such as that shown at by attaching the hook 29 thereto, or in any other manner coupling the load with the cable, and starting the hoisting drum or winch 8 upon which the cable is wound. The controls for the hoist are not illustrated, since the tractor itself is ordinarily supplied with controls for its power takeoff, and these may be used to operate the hoist.

With the load elevated above the ground, or floor, or truck bed, it may be carried from point to point simply by operating a tractor in the same manner as if my improved apparatus were not attached thereto, the caster wheels beneath the hoist permitting great freedom of tractor manipulation.

Assuming that after the boom 20 has cleared the door of the building or truck from which the load has been lifted and Withdrawn, and assuming it is now desired to raise the load to some higher elevation, it is only necessary that the winch drum be operated for .such additional amount as will cause the stop collar "2'! to engage the free end of the boom, thereby arrestingirelative movement of the rope 23 respecting the boom. From this point on, the further winding of the rope on the winch drum will tilt the boom itself toward the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 1, thereby turther raising the weight :or load.

When it is desired to 'lower theload, ithe release of the winch drum will "first-permit the boom to drop to-the limit of movement :accommodated by chains 35, and 'hereupon the boom wil remain stationary while the load continues to descend, the cable 23 paying through the sheaves 24 and 25 until the load reaches "the desired'level.

'In addition to enabling any hoist "to reach 'into such inaccessible places-as'buildingsand trucks, it will be observed that thehorizontalreaiwvard =projection of "the boom in the "full line position :of

Fig. '1 adapts it to-operate over wells, mine shafts, or the like, which WOl11d be'diffiOll1P-0f access if the cable sheave were located directly in "the top of the tower or-derrick.

.For controlling the rate of *pay'i'ngout the rope or cable 23 from the winch d-rum 8, I desirably provide, within-the reach of the tractor operator, a brake handle 3*! which controls any suitable brake or drum. Details of the brake are not shown, these being no part of the present invention.

While the boom 29 :has been illustrated as having the form of 'a-truss, tnisbeing desirable, it will .be understood that the invention is not at all limited in this regard.

I claim:

1. A hoist comprising the combinationwith a tower and a winch, of a boom'piyotally cradled intermediate its ends upon the tower and provided at opposite sides of its pivot with sheaves,

and a cable extending from the winch over the sheaves and provided with means engageablewith the 'boom for limiting its withdrawing movement over the outermost sheave;said tower and one end of said boom being connected by "an adjustably extensible and retractable tension member attached to the tower "at a point spaced from said pivot.

2. A hoist adapted for connection with a tractor to be propelled and manipulated by the tractor operator, said hoist comprising a tower frame having a pivotal towing connection upon which said frame is vertically oscillata-ble, a casterwheeled support for the frame rear-wardly of said connection, and tractor-connected meansfor'lim iting the oscillation of said frame about said connection, a winch drum :upon said tower frame and provided with a tractor-driven connection and a brake handle projecting forwardly to 'be accessible to a tractor operator, aline extending from said drum, and a boom pivoted to said tower frame intermediate the ends of the boom and provided at opposite ends of the boom with sheaves over which said line is payed.

3. A hoist adapted for connection with a tractor to be propelled and manipulated by the tractor operator, said hoist comprising a tower frame having a pivotal towing connection upon which said frame is vertically oscillatable, a casterwheeled support for the frame rearwardly of said connection, and tractor-connected means for limiting the oscillation of said frame about said connection, a winch drum upon said tower frame and provided with a tractor-driven connection and a brake handle projecting forwardly to be accessible to a tractor operator, a line extending from said drum, and a boom pivoted to said tower frame intermediate the ends of the boom and provided at opposite ends of the boom with sheaves over which said line is payed, the outer end of the boom and said line having interacting stop means limiting the withdrawal of the line-over the sheave at the outer end of the boom.

4. A hoist attachment for a tractor designed for transportation and operation by the tractor operator, said attachment comprising a tower frame having towing pintles adapted for tractor connection, said tower frame being rearwardly inclined, laterally spaced caster wheels for the support of said tower frame rearwardly of said pintles, tractor anchorages, tension springs connected from the tower frame to said anchorages and counter-balancing the tower frame in its rearward inclination over said caster wheels, flexible connectors leading from said anchorages to an upper portion of the tower frame and limiting its rearward oscillation against tension of said springs, a winch drum mounted on the tower frame and provided with driving connections having a tractor power take-01f coupling, abrake handle for said winch drum extending forwardly over said tractor to a position to be operated by the tractor operator, a line leading upwardly from said drum, a boom provided intermediate its end with a fulcrum on said tower frame, said boom having at its opposite ends first and second sheaves over which said'line is payed, a tension connection limiting the oscillation of said boom about its fulcrum in a direction to lower its free end, and a stop connected with said line and engageable with the free end of the boom for the oscillation thereof in a direction to raise its free end.

5. A hoist adapted for connection with'a tractor for propulsion over a supporting surface, said hoist comprising a tower frame having a. pivotal towing connection upon which said frame is vertically oscillatable, a caster-wheeled support for the tower frame rearwardly of said connection, resilient tractor connected means for limiting the oscillation of said frame about said connection, a boom pivotally cradled intermediate its ends upon the tower whereby to extend one end thereof toward the tractor and the other outer end thereof in the opposite direction to receive a load, a sheave adjacent each end of said boom, a cable extending oversaid sheaves, a winch mounted to said tower in spaced relation to the pivot of the boom in position to receive and pay out said cable, and an adjustable tension member connected to the boom adjacent the tractor end thereof and connected to the tower adjacent the winch whereby upon assumption of a load upon the cable beyond the sheave on the outer end of theboom the weight of the load, boom and tower may depress the vertically oscillatable frame in extension of said resilient means and bring the support into contact with the surface supporting the tractor.

6. A hoist adapted to be detachably connected to a tractor, said hoist comprising a tower, a winch on the tower, a boom pivoted intermediate its ends to the tower and having the greater portion of its weight at one side of the pivot to gravity bias the boom toward said side, an innermost and an outermost sheave at the inner and outer ends of the boom respectively and a cable extending from the winch over the sheaves, said cable having means engageable with the boom for limiting its withdrawing movement over the outermost sheave whereby to oscillate said boom about said pivot and against its bias.

7. The device of claim 6 in combination with an adjustable tension member connecting the tower and the boom near its innermost sheave to limit oscillation of the boom under its gravity bias.

8. A hoist adapted to be detachably connected to a tractor, said hoist comprising a tower having a pivotal towing connection upon which the tower is oscillatable, a winch on the tower and oscillatable therewith, a boom pivoted intermediate its ends to the tower, an innermost and an outermost sheave at the inner and outer ends REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 410,371 Moore Sept. 3, 1889 538186 Widdows Apr. 23, 1895 614,792 Cooper et al. Nov. 22, 1898 704,836 Kauffman July 15, 1902 1,016,076 Larson Jan. 30, 1912 1,319,964 Morgan Oct. 28, 1919 1,723,694 Haase Aug. 6, 1929 2,096,186 Le Tourneau Oct. 19, 1937 2,470,857 Lathers May 24, 1949 

